Sunday, February 24th, 2019 at 3:00 pm - CLEVELAND, OHIO
BYRD SONGES

The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
1007 Superior Avenue in Cleveland
(216) 771-6666 for information
All Cathedral Concerts are FREE and open to the public; no tickets are required. A free-will offering will be taken. Free parking is available in the Cathedral Plaza Garage on the SE corner of Rockwell Ave and East 9th St.


Mignarda Ensemble, Cleveland's resident early music specialists, will perform a program of sacred polyphony and devotional songs by Elizabethan composer William Byrd (c. 1543–1623), and a few of his contemporaries. A scant amount of Byrd's music was arranged for lute during his lifetime, and several of the composer's most beguiling motets survive solely in notation for solo voice and lute in the manuscripts of Catholic recusant Edward Paston. Mignarda will perform selections in this format as well as a cappella motets and Byrd's exquisite Mass for Four Voices.  

Donna Stewart and Ron Andrico will be joined by special guests Malina Rauschenfels and José Gotera for this performance of beguiling music by Elizabethan England's greatest composer.



Quotes from Audiences, Colleagues & Critics

“I have always admired Stewart's beautiful voice but I thought she surpassed herself in this repertoire which obviously means a great deal to her. She captures the intense religious fervour of the music simply by letting the words speak for themselves with subtle variations in dynamics, ranging from an introspective pianissimo in the reflective pieces to some ecstatic alleluias in the more joyful ones.”

Stewart's ornamentation of the vocal line in Victoria's Ne timeas, Maria is exquisite and her interpretation brings out the intensity of religious devotion, but also subdued passion inherent in [the] poetry."
   - Monica Hall, Lute News (UK)

"Congratulations on a really exquisite rendering of your selection from 'Pilgrimes Solace'! The lovely open quality of Donna's voice I find really endearing, and so suitable for giving us the 'inner passion' of these marvelous texts. And such intelligence shines behind every word."
   - Anthony Rooley, Consort of Musicke

"I believe that you and Donna form the pre-eminent lute song duo of our time."

"I was transfixed by the clarity and musicality of the lute...and of course Donna's voice was absolutely beautiful. I can see why your CDs are being met with critical acclaim. I was enraptured."
   - Gregory Heislman, Director of Music at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (Cleveland, Ohio)

"Your concert was revelatory in several ways, especially as it challenged our ears and hearts to enter a realm difficult to access these days, where subtlety and elegance trump flash and flamboyance, and content, rather than effect, is primary."
   - Rev. Cullie Mowers, Rector, St. Thomas Episcopal Church (Slaterville Springs, NY)

About Mignarda

Cleveland natives Donna Stewart & Ron Andrico, better known as Duo Mignarda, are well-known to Cleveland audiences and one of the few professional lute song duos in the US. Dedicated to music of the 16th century, Mignarda's engaging approach has set a new standard for interpretation, authenticity and musicianship, offering thoughtful programming illuminating the vibrant mingling of renaissance music and poetry.

Noted for awakening modern audiences to an appreciation for historical music, their work encompasses concertizing, teaching and recording, with twelve critically-acclaimed CDs. Mignarda's publications include a series of 12 music editions, scholarly articles, reviews and the internationally-popular blog, Unquiet Thoughts. The couple met in a schola providing liturgical music for the Latin Tridentine Mass, and they continue their dedication to historical sacred and secular music. Now in their 14th year as a duo, they have travelled tens of thousands of miles to share this music with audiences across the U.S., and they make their home in a handmade house in the forest of rural upstate New York.

The Lute Society (UK) has called their CD La Rota Fortuna "essential listening", and Au pres de vous their "lute disk of the year". Divine Amarillis, their recording of French music from the early 17th century, was awarded first place for Best Classical/Voice Album in the 2009 JPF awards. Their recordings have been featured on the internationally syndicated Millennium of Music, hosted by Robert Aubry Davis, and all are included among CD Baby's top 40 best-selling classical CDs. Mignarda was featured in a one-hour live concert produced by Binghamton, NY PBS affiliate WSKG TV, which has been rebroadcast frequently and is available from PBS.org on DVD.

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100-word bio, links, & high resolution photos

About Malina Rauschenfels

Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Malina Rauschenfels performs extensively as both a chamber musician and soloist, with a strong emphasis on early and very contemporary music. Praised by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as “spellbinding” and for her “powerful clarion tones and crisp articulation,” she has also been commended by Cleveland Classical for her “exceptional vocal range, strong acting abilities, gripping theatricality, and commanding gestures, both musical and physical.” Malina is co-director and a founding member of Burning River Baroque, where she sings and plays baroque cello and violin. She is also artistic director of hūmAnómali, a collaboratively structured music ensemble that incorporates "extra-musical affairs" inspired by dance, gesture, and theatricality into its historically informed performances of music from antiquity to the present. In addition to performing extensively across the United States and abroad, Malina currently teaches violin, viola, cello, flute, piano and voice in her home in Cleveland Heights, and recently released her first solo CD, In D – Solo Cello Through the Ages. Further information can be found at her website, www.malinarauschenfels.com

About José Gotera

José Gotera began his musical training at the age of eight at St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto, Ontario. He attended the University of Toronto while pursuing degrees in Human Biology and Music History. He completed an MA in Early Music at Case Western Reserve University. During his studies at Case, he sang with the Early Music Singers and St. Paul’s Episcopal Choir. He has sung professionally with Toronto’s Tafelmusik and more recently with the Cleveland Orchestra Opera Chorus, Apollo’s Fire, Opera Cleveland and Quire Cleveland. He has sung solo roles with Cleveland Opera on Tour, Opera Circle, and the West Shore Chorale. In addition to teaching voice at Cleveland State University, José is also a music instructor at Hiram College where he teaches voice, directs opera/musical theater workshop and the Hiram men’s chorus. He sings with the Trinity Cathedral Chamber Singers in downtown Cleveland and is also a section leader and baritone soloist for the chancel choir at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights.